On The Way To Pizza And Back
by invisible-nobody15
Summary: Thoughts of Max on the way to the pizza place and back in the finale of Season 2. Short two-shot.
1. On The Way To Pizza

**A/N: My first ever Camp Camp fic! My friend got me into it over the long weekend, and I just _had_ to write this. Max is my baby. This is supposed to be a very short two-shot, to help me adjust to writing for this fandom. Let me know what you think! Part two should be up shortly.**

 **Enjoy!**

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He really did it this time.

He wasn't sure exactly what he did, but boy, did he do it. Just a few minutes ago, they were backstage at the campsite; Campbell having his dumbass show, in hopes of not getting arrested. Now, the ten-year-old sat in the back of the 'Camp Mobile', on the way to who-knows-where. Maybe, he thought, he shouldn't have fought against participating in the show. That must have been the last straw.

"Where are we going?" He asked, breaking the silence of the last five or so minutes. "You aren't taking me out into the woods to kill me, are you?"

The child waited for his counselor to laugh it off, " _Silly Max, that's not a camp activity; we're going to go find rainbows!"_ But no such statement was made. Both adults sat there in silence, which only made Max worry more. Gwen, he understood being quiet. David, however, _never shut up_. His silence on the topic was more worrisome than lunch back at Camp Campbell.

"Is this about the show?" Max continued to question. "Because, if it is, I still don't regret not doing it."

Still, only silence. Max's heartbeat began to quicken. Some childish instinct triggered inside of him - when the adults were quiet and upset, then something must have been very wrong. The innate reliance on adults annoyed Max to no end. Adults were the bane of his existence, but, at the end of the day, he was still a little kid. He'd grow out of this phase eventually, he knew.

"I'm serious, guys." He continued to talk, hoping to trigger some sort of scolding. "Where the hell are you taking me?"

When no one answered again, the worst-case scenario hit him like a ton of bricks.

"You guys aren't...taking me home, are you?"

"No, Max." David finally answered. But his voice lacked its usual energy; it sounded like it'd been sucked dry. He sounded tired - defeated, even. "We're just going to go out and eat."

Max narrowed his eyes, suspicious. He drew out his, "Why?"

"We'll talk when we get there, Max."


	2. And Back

**A/N: Hey, it's that second chapter that only took me MONTHS to actually write. For such a short chapter, you'd think that it would have been out faster. Oops. Sorry. Hope you enjoy it, despite the wait!**

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Max didn't know what to think.

He still wasn't sure what had just transpired. David didn't seem as depressed as he had on the way there, but he still seemed way too much like a legitimate adult for Max's taste; it was just too weird. This whole evening had been so out the ordinary (even for Camp Campbell) that he wasn't sure what to think of it all. What was he _supposed_ to think?

No one cared.

 _So why did David care?_

Why would the male counselor, whose life Max has tried to make a living hell, care so much about his home life? It wasn't any of his business, none of it was. And yet, David seemed to have a gift for prying into Max's life. He continuously asked Max 'how he felt' and if he was 'enjoying camp yet', even after being shut down time and time again.

So again:

 _Why did David care?_

He shifted his weight in the back seat, uncomfortable thinking about David's intrusive nature. He didn't like when people tried to help him; he didn't need any help. And he _certainly_ didn't need any help from David. But what he and Gwen had done, taking him out for pizza, seemed so random. Why was it that made them feel the need to do that?

"So…" Max spoke, breaking the silence that only he seemed to find tense. "I know that the pizza was supposed to cheer me up because my parents-" he faltered, looking for words, " _suck_ , but _why_ do you guys care, or even know, about these things?"

Gwen shrugged, speaking when she hit her left blinker. "Well, when we saw your file at the show…"

Max waited for her to continue. David's speech minutes earlier had been so heartfelt, but Gwen had stopped there. Max didn't see her point. "And?"

She glanced into her rearview mirror for a second to lock eyes with Max, and then directed her gaze at the road again. Five seconds of silence later, she elbowed David and he spoke next. "'I'm here because camp is where kids are sent when their parents don't want to deal with them.' That's what you told me the day that Nikki and Neil arrived at camp. I'd already gotten used to your antics and...didn't know how literal you meant it. I never bothered to look into your file. So when I did, and saw that your parents didn't bother to sign you up for any specific camp, I had to do _something_."

"So why take me out for pizza?" Max asked, feeling emotions stirring inside of him (he hated when that happened), "What was this escapade supposed to accomplish, other than possibly getting your precious camp shut down?"

Max could see David shrug, the man still not having turned around to look at him. "It was supposed to make you feel like a kid, Max - going out for pizza. Because you're allowed to be a kid."

A snappy reply was already ready to leave his mouth, but he held it back. Why? He wasn't sure.

David's words had affected him. Why? He didn't want to think about it.

"Was that really more important than saving Camp Campbell?" Max asked, unable to suppress the bitterness in his tone. "That place means more to you than your own life."

David chuckled lightly. "Believe it or not, Max, but you _are_ more important than the camp. To me, at least. I told you, that camp has been falling to shambles for years, but you have an entire life ahead of you. What's the point of throwing that away at such a young age?"

Max was speechless. _David had… He admitted to… Did he choose to make me happy over keeping the camp up and running safely?_ Something like that went against everything he pegged David to be. The man clung to that camp like it was his reason for living. His care for the place went far deeper than cheerful childhood memories and nostalgia. And yet…

"Just remember," David added, momentarily breaking Max out of his stupor, "that people care, Max."

The pulled up to the counselor's cabin, and Gwen shut the car off. Max hadn't even noticed that they had turned onto the camp's road. Exiting the car, he was silent. He ignored his friends when they tried to explain what happened after he disappeared. He walked into his tent and lay down, pulling the covers up over his head. He tried to pretend that he didn't notice the burning in his eyes, or the lump in his throat.

" _Pretending like things are okay when they're not doesn't help anything. I'm sorry that your parents don't care enough, Max."_


End file.
